Man who set out to find birth parents ends up becoming matchmaker

A man who set out to find his birth parents ended up playing matchmaker. Martin Schmidt knew he was adopted, but it wasn't until he found out he was going to be a father that he decided to seek out his birth parents. The next four years unfolded like a movie.

Martin, 36, was a newborn when he was adopted. His birth mother, Michele Newman, was just 16 years old when she found out she was pregnant, several months after she and her high school boyfriend, Dave Lindgren, broke up.

"I struggled with this decision," Michele told CBS News correspondent Vladimir Duthiers, "but I just prayed… adoption was the best choice." She said she "never" stopped thinking about the child.

Michele and Dave went their separate ways after Martin's adoption. Michele moved to Hawaii. Dave stayed in Wisconsin and had several children and step-children. In 2014, when Martin had a baby of his own on the way, he got in contact with his birth mom. She, in turn, reached out to Dave.

"We talked until 2 o'clock that morning," Dave recounted of Michele's call. "So we were on the phone probably three hours and it just felt natural like we just picked up from 17, 18 years old again. … And then later in the month… she's like, 'Well, why don't you come out to Hawaii.'"

Their connection was renewed and the chemistry was instant.

"When I got off the plane in Hawaii and walked down that airport stairs… I could just see that – I felt it," Dave said.   

"I saw him and I saw his smile and I said, 'Oh, I remember that, I know this guy,'" Michele said.

That trip led to dating, and eventually Michele moved back to Wisconsin. The couple's relationship with each other, and Martin, blossomed.

"He's a great man," Michele said of Martin. "To watch him with his kids… he just connects with them, pays attention to them, sees them. His parents did a great job."

"I couldn't ask for anything better to find," Dave said.

In early August, Dave and Michele tied the knot and Martin officiated.

"You two have found each other, and fallen in love. After finding me," Martin said, as the guests laughed.

The journey to get there – an altar under a tent in rural Wisconsin – was a journey of heartbreak, pain, but most of all, love.

"I think the reason that this is working out so well is that these are really good people," Martin told CBS News.

"What have you learned from just this entire process of rediscovery?" Duthiers asked.

"Miracles do happen," Dave said.

"For me, it's just never give up hope. Dreams can come true. There's a lot of love out there in the world," Michele said.

Martin told us the acceptance and support from his adoptive parents and sister made all the difference in reconnecting with his birth parents. Martin's adoptive and birth parents are both involved in the lives of his children.